Pavilion of the Future, Ukraine 2024 : With Beating Hearts

Over the past two years, images from Ukraine have circulated widely, with thousands of photographers trying to capture the war. A year ago, media attention focused on certain events, but despite this, many stories remained untold, forgotten, or misunderstood.

The "From Inside" exhibition project brings together the stories of four Ukrainian photographers who, through their images, attempt to visualize the deep feelings and personal experiences of their people.

The stories told by Alexander Chekmenev, Igor Efimov, Daria Svertilova, and Pavel Dorogoy differ from those conveyed in the international press. The main difference lies in the language, access to the conversation, the ability to speak and understand, and through conversation and photography, an attempt to convey deep feelings, what is hidden inside, what we want to keep silent or even forget.

"From Inside" is not just a look inside the country but also an immersion into a new experience of life during the war, for which no one was prepared. These are the stories of displaced people, families who lost loved ones at the front, young people facing crucial choices, and those who can never return home.

Ukrainian photographer Alexander Chekmenev presents his series "Citizens of Kyiv" in the garden of the Manufacture located at 2 Rue des Écoles.

Alexander Chekmenev (UA, 1969) is one of the leading figures in contemporary Ukrainian photography. Since 1997, he has lived and worked in Kyiv as a photojournalist for various media. In December 2022, he photographed President Volodymyr Zelensky for the cover of TIME magazine.

CITIZENS OF KYIV
Almost every discussion about Chekmenev's photography revolves around two key themes: "empathy" and "memory". The "Citizens of Kyiv" series initially started as a commission for The New York Times magazine but quickly transcended this framework. The primary goal was to photograph people who remained in Kyiv under attack during the first month of the invasion. The series now includes over a hundred images telling the stories of those who stayed in the towns and villages of the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions. Chekmenev recalls that the city was literally empty and finding subjects for the series was extremely challenging, so he had to use his network to connect with people. Each person was photographed in a place of personal significance. The images are inseparable from the accompanying stories, with each composition associated with a caption. These present narratives not of victimization but of resistance and horizontal cooperation. "Citizens of Kyiv" is a project about people with an uncertain future, created by a photographer who is both a subject and a witness of the war, choosing to stay in Kyiv.

📍 In the garden of La Manufacture, 2 Rue des Écoles
Monday to Sunday, from 9:30 AM to 11 PM

Ukrainian photographer Pavlo Dorohoi presents his series "The Subway as Shelter" at the Hôtel de Ville.

Pavlo Dorohoi, born in Kharkiv, specializes in documentary and archival photography. Today, he primarily works as a volunteer but continues to document life in the city during the war.

THE SUBWAY AS SHELTER
This series depicts life in one of Kharkiv's subway stations where thousands of residents hide during air raids. According to Pavel, a single station can shelter up to 500 people in the evening: volunteers prepare food, and when they are not sleeping, people try to take a few moments for themselves. Pavel lived in the subway with his wife, a station employee, and their two children.

📍 In the Hall of the Hôtel de Ville, Place de l’Horloge
July 8-21, Monday to Saturday from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Photographer Igor Efimov presents his series "Faces of Memory" and "Selected Images" at the Petit Paradis.

Igor Efimov (Cherkasy, 1987) is the author of personal and collective exhibitions in Ukraine and abroad, a multiple photography competition laureate. He began in 2009 with documentary series and street photography, then added social and artistic projects to his practice. Through his work, Igor Efimov captures the dramatic changes occurring in his country, inviting the viewer to piece together the puzzle of Ukrainian reality.

FACES OF MEMORY
2020-present
This series is dedicated to families who have lost loved ones in the war. The parents, spouses, and children of soldiers are depicted in the images. They are photographed in the military uniform of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The uniform is the same for everyone, as a symbol of the country's collective loss. It belongs to everyone because the tragedy has affected not only families but also friends and neighbors; it is a trauma that unites the entire Ukrainian people. The military uniform reminds us that the war continues.

SELECTED IMAGES
2011-2019
The photographs displayed were taken since 2011. They are the result of over a decade of research and aim to capture a historical period of profound transformation for Ukraine. The ironic mood of the selected photographs illustrates the turbulence of this period, and, as we now know, they foreshadow the dramatic course of events.

📍 At the Petit Paradis, 23 Rue des Lices
Wednesday to Sunday from 11 AM to 1 PM and from 3 PM to 8 PM

Ukrainian photographer Daria Svertilova presents two series : "Temporary Homes" and "Irreversibly Altered" at the Petit Paradis.

Daria Svertilova (Odesa, 1996) graduated from the National School of Decorative Arts in Paris in 2023. Using photography as her main tool, she seeks to create a sincere and subtle portrait of her generation. Her work has been exhibited throughout Europe and the United States and published in M le Monde, The Guardian, among others. Daria is a finalist for the Palm Photo Prize 2022.
www.dariasvertilova.com

IRREVERSIBLY ALTERED
2022 – ongoing
"I close my eyes and begin the journey. My destination is the Land of Pain and Bliss. Once there, I go to the places I knew, walk down the streets, see familiar faces, and talk to people. I hope to find my home as I left it, but everything is touched by a menacing feeling. It grows and engulfs me, it tightens my chest. I look around and recognize nothing. (...) I see great resilience and bravery as the world around me collapses; I hear sirens and explosions; I run and seek a place to hide. There is one between two walls: I sit there and look into the darkness, and the darkness looks back. The menacing feeling chokes me, I tell myself 'Wake up and it will end'. I open my eyes and the nightmare continues." "In this series of photos, I am both witness and actor. During the first year of real war, I constantly returned home, trying to capture my new vulnerable reality, a reality that has been irreversibly altered."

TEMPORARY HOMES
2019 – ongoing
"Dormitories are the only type of social housing that exists in Ukraine today. They were built during the Soviet era and since then, the buildings and living conditions have not changed much, but Ukraine and its people have. In this project, I explore the confrontation between the Soviet legacy and the new pro-Western generation. The buildings, which seem cold and uniform from the outside, hide diverse and varied rooms that combine Soviet interiors with each student's personal items, drawings, and posters. Dormitories are a kind of cocoon, a place of transition between adolescence and adulthood."

📍 At the Petit Paradis, 23 Rue des Lices
Wednesday to Sunday from 11 AM to 1 PM and from 3 PM to 8 PM

Reading of Amadoca, a project supported by the National Popular Theater of Villeurbanne, with the support of the Ukrainian Institute Paris.

Text by Sofia Andrukhovytch
Translation by Iryna Dmytrychyn for Les Éditions Belfond
Stage translation by Yuriy Zavalnyouk, Jules Audry
Directed by Jules Audry
Performed by Yuriy Zavalnyouk, Carine Goron
Sound design by Jean Galmiche

📍 Manufacture Intra-Muros

📍 Studio of Maison Jean Vilar

20 Days in Mariupol is a 2023 documentary film directed by Pulitzer Prize winner Mstyslav Chernov, also an Oscar winner for Best Documentary Film.

(Re)building and Creating with Ukraine: Concrete Examples. What are some concrete examples of existing collaborations? What implementation difficulties exist?

With (programming ongoing, subject to confirmation related to the war situation):

Clément Peretjatko, Director, Puppeteer
Patrick Penot, Festival Sens Interdits Lyon
Tetiana Kytsenko, Author, Member of the Association of Independent Authors
Julia Gonchar, Author, Member of the Association of Independent Authors
Dominique Dolmieu, Publisher "L’espace d’un instant"
Anna Colin-Lebedev, Lecturer in Political Science, Author of "Jamais frères? Ukraine et Russie: une tragédie postsoviétique"
Iryna Nirsha, Director of the Performing Arts Department at the Ukrainian Institute, Kyiv
Moderation by Frédéric Poty, La Manufacture
Supported by the IZOLYATSIA Foundation, Trans Europe Halles, and Malý Berlín, and co-financed by the ZMINA: Rebuilding program, created with the support of the European Union in a call for proposals aimed at supporting displaced Ukrainians and the Ukrainian cultural and creative sectors.

📍 Manufacture Intra-Muros